News:

"There is a terrible desperation to the increasingly pathetic rationalizations from the climate denial camp. This comes as no surprise if you take the long view; every single undone paradigm in history has died kicking and screaming, and our current petroleum paradigm 🐉🦕🦖 is no different. The trick here is trying to figure out how we all make it to the new ⚡ paradigm without dying ☠️ right along with the old one, kicking, screaming or otherwise." - William Rivers Pitt

DHARNA NOOR: One thousand young climate activists with the Sunrise Movement descended on Capitol Hill on Monday to demand a Green New Deal, a plan for the US to become carbon neutral within a decade and create tens of millions of jobs in the renewable energy sector.

VICTORIA FERNANDEZ: Things that would fall under it are moving our society to 100 percent renewables, creating good, livable wage jobs for anyone who wants one to solve the climate crisis, alleviating and beginning to eliminate poverty, especially for those who are most impacted, who are in the nexus of pollution and poverty every single day. It would look like transforming our public transportation, our entire energy system, and ultimately eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from every sector.

DHARNA NOOR: For the second time since Democrats won control of the House in the midterms, the Sunrise Movement held a sit-in in top ranking Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s office. They demanded the creation of a Green New Deal-focused select committee that can draft legislation as proposed by Representative-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Pelosi is the likely next House speaker.

In response to last month’s protests, Pelosi said she would reinstate the 2007 Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, but Sunrise says that’s not enough.

NICOLE CATANIA: The previous committee would talk about climate change, would talk about the science, but wouldn’t actually have legislative powers.

DHARNA NOOR: The activists also targeted incoming House Majority Leader Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland and incoming Rules Committee Chair Representative Jim McGovern. One hundred forty-three were arrested in the sit-ins. McGovern endorsed the select committee for a Green New Deal, becoming the 23rd representative to sign on.

JIM MCGOVERN: I am committed to the Select Committee. I want to make sure that it happens, right?

NICOLE CATANIA: Really Congresspeople all over the country are coming out in support of this because of how politically popular it is, and that it’s on the national agenda in a big way.

DHARNA NOOR: Hoyer said he appreciated the protesters’ passion and that he was happy to hear from them, but he didn’t address their demands. Sunrise noted that Hoyer has accepted a quarter million dollars from fossil fuel executives, lobbyists, and PACs, and suggests that may influence his decisions. They want Democrats to reject such influence.

VICTORIA FERNANDEZ: The select committee would have every member that is part of it pledge to not take any money from fossil fuel executives. We need to make sure as the American people that the select committee that meant to address climate change at the scale that is required, that we know that they’re not in the back pockets of fossil fuel CEOs or being influenced in any way.

DHARNA NOOR: They had a similar message for West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who’s a leading contender for the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

VICTORIA FERNANDEZ: He has taken a lot of fossil fuel money. He literally shot a piece of climate legislation, famously.

The New Deal was a series of public works projects, policies, and reforms enacted by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s. The unprecedented economic intervention helped pull the US out of the Great Depression. Like its namesake the New Deal, the Green New Deal will take massive investment. But the activists say that government funds need to be reallocated.

VARSHINI PRAKASH: The IMF estimates that we spend $10 million a minute in subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. And we’ve spent trillions of dollars on these industries; massive giveaways and subsidies. I would say that we have spent a lot more on billionaires and fighter jets than we have spent on actually improving our economy in a society so that it works for all people.

DHARNA NOOR: The protesters say the time to act is now.Last week, a report from the Global Carbon Project showed that in 2018, carbon emissions reached an all-time high globally. And a recent report from the globe’s leading body on climate change shows that we may just have 12 years left to avoid irreversible effects of climate change.

NICOLE CATANIA: The IPCC report gave us 12 years. I’m 23. In 12 years I’m 35. That’s when people start families. We don’t have time to waste anymore. We need this now.

DHARNA NOOR: The Sunrise Movement knows that fighting the climate crisis is an uphill battle. On the same day they took to the nation’s capitol, the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Kuwait downplayed the results of that very same IPCC report at the UN’s international climate talks, or COP24.

VARSHINI PRAKASH: We are facing an opposition who will stop at nothing to squeeze the last bit of money out of the earth for their own profit.

DHARNA NOOR: But they say that if their Green New Deal is successful it could set a global example.

ROSE STRAUSS: The Green New Deal, drafting this legislation, would really be setting an example for hopefully the rest of the world. And part of the actual resolution is being a leader in green technology, because once we have the incentives, you know, companies are going to start innovating and meeting these needs that we have for renewable energy. And hopefully we can kind of use what America hopefully will do to address climate change as a platform for the rest of the world. Because climate change is a global problem, and we can only solve this problem if the international community comes together as well on this issue and makes a change.

DHARNA NOOR: And the stakes couldn’t be higher.

VARSHINI PRAKASH: Where my family’s from in southern India, an extremely strong monsoon season displaced a million people and put them in refugee camps. I want to be real that every decimal point of warming that we avoid could save the lives of millions of people.

ROSE STRAUSS: I go to school in Santa Barbara, and last year my finals were canceled because the fires were so bad there. I have asthma. I literally could not leave to study. It was totally debilitating. This apocalypse, far-off world that we keep talking about, climate change is not far off anymore. It’s here right now, and the clock is ticking. And honestly, we’ve run out of time, so we have to do this now.

Posted by: AGelbert

Michael Nigro is a leading photojournalist for Truthdig, known for his reporting from deep within major events. He was “on the ground” for the website at the infamous protest in Charlottesville, Va., when…

Multimedia journalist and Truthdig correspondent Michael Nigro will travel to the U.S.-Mexico border near Tijuana this month to cover the stories of Central American families seeking asylum. In a reader-funded campaign, Nigro plans to offer a firsthand account, through livestreaming, photo essays and original reporting, of confrontations between asylum seekers and government officials in a climate of heightened xenophobia.

Some families have traveled more than 2,000 miles to escape dangerous conditions, including gang violence and poverty. Last month, U.S. Border Patrol agents fired tear gas on asylum seekers, including children, near Tijuana. Thousands are waiting at camps in Mexico, unsure about whether the U.S. will let them in.

Nigro has previously covered the Poor People's Campaign, the Dakota Access pipeline protests at Standing Rock, N.D., the Trump inauguration DisruptJ20 protests, and the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. He will be reporting from San Diego and Tijuana from Dec. 17 through Dec. 22. Find the project’s GoFundMe here.

Posted by: AGelbert

Bernie Sanders discusses his book, "Where We Go From Here", at a Politics and Prose event at George Washington University on 11/27/18.

Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign was a beginning, not an ending. In Where We Go From Here: Two Years in the Resistance, New York Times bestselling author Bernie Sanders chronicles the day-by-day struggles that he and his progressive colleagues have waged over the last two years in the fight against Donald Trump’s agenda and for a government that works for all. The good news is, progressive voices are making significant strides. Where We Go From Here shows how citizens all across America are standing up to the Trump government.

BERNIE SANDERS was a Democratic candidate for President of the United States. He is serving his second term in the U.S. Senate after winning re-election in 2012 with 71 percent of the vote. Sanders previously served as mayor of Vermont’s largest city for eight years before defeating an incumbent Republican to be the sole congressperson for the state in the U.S. House of Representatives. He lives in Burlington, Vermont with his wife Jane and has four children and seven grandchildren.

Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics and Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics and Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at http://www.politics-prose.com/

Agelbert NOTE: If absolutely everything Norman Solomon says in the following post is not done with absolutely no compromise to the Corporate Capitalist BASTARDS (who OWN the Republican Party) corrupting the Democratic Party, all the laudable reforms (sine qua non for a viable biosphere) that Senator Sanders courageously champions are doomed to failure. 😟 Indeed, the existence of humanity itself may hinge on Democratic Party Progressive SOCIALIST Militancy.

Posted by: AGelbert

A federal judge ruled that Trump’s ban on asylum applications from those who do not enter the US at a legal port of entry is in complete contravention to US and international law. Angelo Guisado of the Center for Constitutional Rights outlines the practical and legal background of the decision

Posted by: AGelbert

You may be surprised to learn that Virginia has one of the fastest rates of relative sea-level rise in the country. The Hampton Roads region is experiencing both rising seas and sinking land, threatening tourist towns like Virginia Beach and the region's major military facilities with frequent flooding — a situation expected to worsen as the climate warms. This week, in the first of a series of stories on the topic, we write about how the state is beginning to get serious about tackling sea-level rise, which could make Virginia a leader in coastal adaptation and climate strategies.

Fossil fuels 🏴‍☠️ are driving our climate problems, as we all know, and a surplus of fracked shale gas is poised to make that even worse. The petrochemical industry🐉🦕🦖 😈 👹 is ramping up production of plasticsthanks to fracking, with dire consequences for the climate and the health of residents in the Rust Belt, where many new pipelines and production facilities are being built.

When it comes to wildlife, we still have a lot to learn about the reintroduction of imperiled wild species. University of Texas-Austin researcher Kalli F. Doubleday explains why all eyes are on India's Sariska Tiger Reserve for important lessons on the reintroduction of big catsand their coexistence with neighboring humans.

While tigers may be good at grabbing headlines, let's not forget about insects. Scientists are calling for more research to understand why many insect populations are decliningand what we can do about it.

Subscriber bonus:

We have a special thank you for our subscribers this week: a free copy of Corrupted Science:Fraud, Ideology and Politicsin Science[/font]by John Grant, courtesy of publisher See Sharp Press. This must-read new book dives into the sordid history of how corporations and politicians — including the Trump administration — have twisted or attacked scientific expertise. As a subscriber, you can download the e-book in any of these formats: PDF, Mobi (Kindle) or Epub. Enjoy — and thanks for subscribing!

In case you missed it:

Wildfires are on top of our minds right now as California battles its most deadly and destructive wildfire in state history. Wildfire historian Stephen Pyne explains why we need to have different strategies for fighting different kinds ofwildfires 🔥, especially those at the intersection of wildlands and our developed communities.

Posted by: AGelbert

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Farm Bill. I appreciate hearing from you regarding its critical programs and the certainty it provides for farmers, families, and communities across the country.

Every five years, Congress must pass a Farm Bill to address the needs of producers, support consumers, and establish programs to ensure America’s agricultural industry remains strong, sustainable, and profitable. The Farm Bill touches every single person in this country and establishes our values as Americans. I am proud to fight for a good bill that addresses the interests of our dairy farmers, sustainable conservation programs, nutritional support for families, rural development programs, international food aid, organic agriculture, animal welfare, and the health and safety of consumers and producers everywhere. As former Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and author of the first Organic Farm Bill more than 25 years ago, I recognize how much impact this bill has on our daily lives and these priorities continue to be important as I work on this bill.

On June 28, 2018, the Senate passed our version of the Farm Bill which included many significant wins for Vermonters. You can read more about the Senate bill here. We are now negotiating with the House of Representatives to reconcile the vast differences between our two versions of this bill. On September 5, 2018, we had a public meeting of Farm Bill conferees from the Senate and House of Representatives. I gave a statement highlighting Vermont priorities and will continue to fight for what is important and right in this Farm Bill. You can read my full statement here.

I have heard from hundreds of Vermonters about the importance of the Farm Bill in supporting organic and sustainable agriculture, reducing the use of pesticides and protecting water quality, and protecting animals and endangered species everywhere. This bill also must provide some assurances for our struggling Vermont dairy farmers, protect the ability of families to receive nutritional assistance, maintain a strong international food aid presence with programs like McGovern-Dole, and address the unique challenges faced by rural communities. It is important that this bill continues to fully fund conservation programs and ensure our environment is protected and our agricultural industry is sustainable. I am proud that the Pet and Women Safety Act, of which I am a cosponsor, is included in the Senate Farm Bill and I will continue to fight for animal welfare provisions in this bill.

In addition to undermining the critically important Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the House 🐉🦕🦖 version of this bill prevents towns and cities from making their own choices to reduce the use of chemicals, undermines the endangered species act, and attacksbedrock water quality and other environmental protection laws. As we work on a compromise bill, I will continue to oppose the provisions that provide exemptions for anti-environmental forestry management plans and dangerous pesticide applications that skip the proper approval process. I promise to fight for strong enforcement of organic standards and for the rights of communities to protect themselves from hazardous materials.

Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind as the conference process continues and we work towards a compromise on the Farm Bill that treats everyone fairly and takes care of the farmers who provide quality products while respecting our air, land, and water.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please keep in touch.

Sincerely,

PATRICK LEAHYUnited States Senator

Posted by: AGelbert

Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams filed a new lawsuit on Sunday evening to try to force counties not to throw out some absentee and provisional ballots, The Washington Post reported.

About 5,000 votes were added to the total over the weekend, primarily in Abrams’ favor. Abrams’ campaign has said it needs at least 21,700 more votes in order to force a runoff against Republican Brian Kemp, who has already resigned as secretary of state and claimed victory in the governor’s race with 50.3 percent of the vote, to Abrams’ 48.8 percent. To get a recount, Abrams would need more than 19,300 additional votes.

Abrams’ campaign estimates there are at least 26,000 provisional ballots that were cast in the Georgia race, according to the Post.

“The bottom line is this race is not over. It is still too close to call, and we do not have confidence in the secretary of state’s office,” Lauren Groh-Wargo, Abrams’s campaign manager, told reporters Sunday, according to the Post.

Posted by: AGelbert

Last summer, at the age of 15, Jamie Margolin started a climate group with some other teens. A year later, Zero Hour held its first march on Washington, D.C. Watch our short doc on how they did it and what they’re giving up to fight climate change.

The Fossil Fuelers 🦖 DID THE Clean Energy Inventionssuppressing, Climate Trashing, human healthdepleting CRIME, but since they have ALWAYS BEEN liars and conscience free crooks 🦀, they are trying to AVOID DOING THE TIME or PAYING THE FINE! Don't let them get away with it! Pass it on!

Posted by: AGelbert

Posted by: AGelbert

I've got to be frank with you. After our team at Democracy for America worked relentlessly for months to help 299 DFA-endorsed candidates win on Tuesday, the last few days have been challenging to say the least.

Though Election Day was way back on Tuesday, we're still extremely busy with election work -- supporting Stacey Abrams's team as they fight for every last vote, assisting Gina Ortiz Jones in Texas as she tries to secure a narrow House victory, and preparing for a major recount in Florida for Andrew Gillum.

So we're a little late with this message. But there was no way that we were going to let this historic election go by without celebrating everything that we as Democracy for America members, volunteers, staff and activists were able to achieve together.

First, WE FLIPPED THE HOUSE! That was a significant focus for DFA all cycle, and it took a LOT of work to make it happen online, on the ground, and on the phones. For example, via DFA Dialer, volunteers made a DFA-record-breaking 3,580,788 calls to voters across the country to get out the vote, helping catapult Democrats into power on Tuesday.

But it's not enough to celebrate the fact that we flipped the House. We need to celebrate the way that we flipped the House: by electing a record number of history-making candidates who will change the face of Congress forever, and who will make the Democratic Party even more progressive.

Here are just a few of the DFA-endorsed candidates who made history on Tuesday night:

🌟 🌟 Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar became the first Muslim women ever elected to Congress

🌟 Deb Haaland became one of the first Native American women ever elected to Congress

🌟 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress

🌟 🌟 Jahana Hayes (CT) and Ayanna Pressley (MA) became the first Black Congresswomen from their respective states

🌟 Veronica Escobar became one of Texas's first Latina Congresswomen

We can't take these big wins for granted. We started early, we fought hard and we delivered results. It's time to do it again starting right now. You can help sustain DFA's momentum immediately: Chip in $3 or more monthly to help make history again in 2019 and beyond.

While there are still a number of races left to call and lessons to be learned from 2018 in the weeks and months ahead, it’s important for us to honor the people who really made these monumental victories happen: grassroots DFA members like you.

Over the last two years, grassroots leaders and organizers took the despair we all felt in 2016 and turned it into a movement that firmly rejected the politics of bigotry, hate, and fear that Trump has used to turn the country against itself. And together, we relentlessly worked to elect a new generation of leaders committed to an inclusive, populist progressive vision for the United States.

Mission. Accomplished.

If there's one clear message from Democratic victories in 2018, it's that the future of the Democratic Party lies with the candidates, campaigns, and voters of the New American Majority leading the fight for multi-racial inclusive populism.

Even as we continue to fight to win recounts and run-offs in 2018, Democracy for America members have already begun the battle to win in 2019 and beyond. Help build the movement, month-by-month: Click here to chip in $3 or more monthly.

Thanks for being a part of DFA. These victories never would have been possible without you.

- Charles

Charles Chamberlain, Executive DirectorDemocracy for America

Posted by: AGelbert

Voting Rights Restored to EX-Felonsin Florida: Could It Have Changed the Governor’s Race?

November 9, 2018

Ballot measure restoring rights to Felons was approved by 64% of the electorate in Florida. Desmond Meade of Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and Eddie Conway, Executive Producer at The Real News Network discuss battles won and the fight ahead

Posted by: AGelbert

BREAKING NEWS: According to our friends inside Andrew Gillum's campaign, the current vote tallies in Florida have Mayor Gillum ✨within .45% of Ron DeSantis 🦖 -- which means the Florida gubernatorial election is now almost certainly going to a recount.

Thank you for your support at this critical and historic moment.

- Charles

Charles Chamberlain, Executive DirectorDemocracy for America

Posted by: AGelbert

The midterm elections are now all but over (a few results are still being tallied), and things look just a little different now. It wasn't exactly a "blue wave," but quite a few people were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate and other offices who have promised to take stands on climate change, public lands and other environmental issues. There were a few losses, too, including at least one really big one. What does it all mean for the country, and for the planet? We have a look at the results.

In other news, America's national parks and other public lands could face permanent damage under the Trump administration's energy-dominance agenda. As our article reports this week, oil and gas development could put millions of acres of ecologically and culturally important wildlands at risk.

Sometimes protecting the planet means protecting the soil. We have an interview with Leah Penniman, author of the new book Farming While Black, who discusses how her farm's use of Afro-indigenous farming technologies are good for the soil, the pollinators that depend on it, the climate and the community that benefits from access to nutritious food.

Farming While Black also happens to be one of our picks for the 16 best environmental books coming out this month. Check out the full list here, with books covering everything from wolves and sea turtles to the psychology of climate change.

In case you missed it:

Two big conferences this month address the important topic of light pollution. Find out how a new reserve in Idaho worked to protect the night sky, and how other communities can follow.

What should we cover next?

We welcome your ideas and inside scoops. Drop us a line anytime.

Coming up:

We've got a lot of great stories and essays in the works, including a look at the surprising part of the country taking bold steps to address sea-level rise.

We'll have a fresh batch of links in next week's newsletter, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest headlines as they go live. And while you're on social media, we hope you'll share our stories with your friends.

That's it for this week. As always, thanks for reading.

John R. Platt

Editor, The Revelator

Posted by: AGelbert

Agelbert NOTE: As much as I admire the courage of those luminaries below and as much as I agree with their analysis of the present political threat to we-the-people (INCLUDING THE FOOLED TRUMP SUPPORTERS) that Trump's (Fascist) Brand of Authoritarianism represents, the entire discussion is made MOOT by the inability of the US Government (including BOTH the Democratic and Republican wings of the Profit over People and Planet Oligarchs 'R' US 😈🐉🦕🦖👹 💵 🎩 🍌🏴‍☠️ Party) to take steps to mitigate Catastrophic Climate Change by going on a War Economy footing to transition to 100% Renewable Energy within a decade or less. Neither Hitler nor Stalin nor Mussolini had to to face the fact that the human species is on the fast track to extinction, even though we were already well on the way in the time of those dictators. It REALLY IS DIFFERENT this time with the Trump Fascist Wrecking Crew et al.

The way things ARE now, the Hydrocarbon Hellspawn (i.e. the greedball oil loving, Fascist pie in the sky wishful thinkers of the Fossil Fuel 'Industry ' ) are killing, 24/7, ANY hope for a viable biosphere.

IOW, no amount of fixing the Fascist Tyranny now sweeping the globe will stop the unavoidable mass extinction of most, if not all, of the mammalian vertebrate species on this planet (including humans, of course). ONLY a transition to a 100% Renewable Energy powered WORLD economy WITHIN A DECADE OR LESS can, hopefully (it may be too late even for that too, but that doesn't mean we should not try) guarantee a (barely) viable biosphere for future generations.

Jeremy Scahill: I’m joined now by two scholars of fascism. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University. She’s the author of several books, among them, “Fascist Modernities” and “Italian Fascism’s Empire Cinema.” Her forthcoming book is called “Strongmen: How The Rise, Why They Succeed, How They Fall.” She’s also a columnist for CNN.com.

And Jason Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky professor of philosophy at Yale University. Stanley is the author of “Know How,” “Language in Context,” “Knowledge and Practical Interests,” as well as “How Propaganda Works.” His latest book, which was released earlier this year, is “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.” Ruth, Jason, welcome both of you to Intercepted.

Jeremy Scahill: So, that was from the film “A Night at the Garden.” People can watch that at fieldofvision.org. Ruth, one other sort of historically important point I think that’s relevant to bring up is — we can say, oh, well, this isn’t something that is a direct analog to fascism right now, because we have a multiparty system, because we are having elections, because Trump has not declared himself president for life in an official way, although he does joke about it sometimes.

But couldn’t someone make an argument — yes, because we’re only two years into this, but the direction that we are heading in definitely has historical analogs in how Mussolini consolidated power and in how Hitler consolidated power, how General Franco consolidated power? Isn’t it a fair point to say, yes, you may be technically correct that we’re not living in that right now, but all of the warning signs from history are screaming out for us to recognize this for what it is?

Ruth Ben-Ghiat: Yes, and — you know, in the case of Mussolini there was a two-year period that’s very instructive where he was head of a coalition government — and Hitler had the same. It’s just that Hitler had already been trying to get to power for 10 years, and he wanted power immediately. You know, Mussolini used to joke about staying in power for 20 years. His personality profile, the way he treated and humiliated his allies in Parliament is very, very similar.

You know, one of the reasons he killed Giacomo Matteotti, who was the head of the Socialist Party —even I was taught in former years that it was just because he was anti-fascist. Well, turned out Matteotti was about to denounce Mussolini and his family and the National Fascist Party for corruption. And so, he was killed for a classic kleptocracy. Mussolini was put under investigation, and it was to escape investigation that he declared dictatorship.

So, these transition moments are very, very important, but they are transitions. When we — when things evolve, and — I believe that we are heading toward, you could say, a militarized authoritarian surveillance state. It will look different than the fascism of the 20th century looked. But we are heading toward that, but we are in the transition, and we still have time to do something about it.

Jeremy Scahill: What would be, Ruth, the sort of next steps that people should be aware of based on your understanding of history?

Ruth Ben-Ghiat: One of the issues is, when you have someone like this in power, there’s so much going on, and they hit you in so many directions — which is a strategy, by the way. This is a Bannon “blitzkrieg” strategy, that it’s hard to know what to do first. So, you have population management, the very significant move that they were trying to have the National Park Service not allow protest, and GOP legislators introduced several bills to criminalize protest.

One thing I find interesting, which recurs in the past, is Trump is this charismatic figure. And they come along every so often, you’ve mentioned some of them. And they seem to coalesce the kind of anxieties and frustrations of a given historical moment, but the conservative elites—in this case, GOP—back them and not other people, because they believe that they can use them as a vehicle to do the things they’ve been wanting to do for a long time—the racist, the voter suppression, all the things that the GOP has been trying to activate and was very frustrated it couldn’t do under Obama, right? This is a kind of mutual using of the authoritarian and his backers, right? And so, many of the repressive, authoritarian-minded things going on right now are being introduced by the GOP.

{... ...]

Jeremy Scahill:: Well, and, Jason, you also write about the necessary mythology that comes with Trump’s whole spiel, that America was once great. What he’s really sort of telegraphing there is, there was a time when white people were in full control of this country until the immigrants, the blacks, the uppity women, the Jews, the globalists came to steal America’s greatness. And one of the stats in your book that you cite is 45 percent of Trump supporters believe that whites are the most discriminated-against racial group in America and that 54 percent of Trump supporters believe that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in America.

Jason Stanley: When the dominant group is made to feel like victims, that seems to be the culture that breeds the success of this kind of politics. [... reflective of this, that —]

Jason Stanley: [... ...] So, the idea is that all movements for equality are really masks for domination. And so, at that moment when you find the dominant racial group being made to feel like this enormous victim of feminism, of minority groups, that’s when you know the politics is taking effective control. Of course, it distracts them from what they’re really victims of, which is the people funding this kind of politics, which, as Ruth mentioned, are very often business elites.

Jeremy Scahill: These are the words of the great Langston Hughes from his poem Let America Be America Again. The poem was performed here on Intercepted by Ty Jones, the producing artistic director at the Classical Theatre of Harlem.

Posted by: AGelbert

Last night at his gubernatorial debate with DeSantis , Andrew🌟 wasn't pulling any punches. He called out DeSantis for his affiliation with racists outright in an incredible exchange that you have to see to believe.

Andrew Gillum isn’t afraid to fight back against the bigotry lurking beneath the surface (and sometimes above it!) of today's GOP. That's just one reason why he will make a fantastic governor -- if we put him over the top on November 6.

Watch the amazing clip of Andrew taking a stand against racism, then split a donation between Andrew Gillum’s campaign and DFA's work supporting progressive candidates like Andrew nationwide.

Posted by: AGelbert

We asked one of the teenage organizers of the recent Zero Hour Youth Climate March what they’ve learned and how others can follow in their footsteps.

SNIPPET:

What’s your biggest takeaway from these first events? Are politicians or the heads of corporations listening?

You can never really tell when politicians are listening because it’s their job to pretend like they’re listening. It’s their job to make you think that they’re considering everything that you tell them, that everything that you say is important to them. I hope that they have at least heard what we are saying. I know that after the lobby day at least their staff knows who we are, and saw our faces and heard our voices.

The other day I was talking to Senator Heinrich at a League of Conservation Voters event. He said that he knew us, that he’d heard of us. That meant the world to me and Jamie [Margolin, the founder of Zero Hour]. I don’t have words for it. I looked him in the eye and I knew that he had genuinely heard of us and that this wasn’t just a tactic. I was so grateful that we had recognized by someone with so much influence in our government.

Zero Hour advocates for common-sense climate legislation. What does that look like to you?

The term “common sense” is tough. Not everyone knows what you’re talking about. In the case of common-sense climate legislation, however, it really is what just about anyone might think it is. All we want is what makes sense. All we want is effective change. All we want for the people of this world is protection and safety. That’s all anyone wants. That’s what makes it common sense, because everyone at least wants a good life for themselves.

Posted by: AGelbert

Fierce Battle for State Assembly Between Socialist 👍 and Obama Staffer in Richmond, CA

October 14, 2018

Richmond, California, Councilperson Jovanka Beckles, a declared socialist versus Obama staffer Buffy Wicks in a battle for State Assembly is defining the Democrats

Story Transcript

MARC STEINER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Marc Steiner. Good to have you all with us.

The new class of political battle inside the Democratic Party seems to be between the Democratic establishment and the rise of new people from the Democratic Socialist association and others; candidates that are defining what’s happening in politics in America, redefining what’s happening in America. And it’s happening in the 15th California Assembly District. It’s a district that comprises working-class cities like Richmond, and academic left-wing enclaves like Berkeley, and parts of Oakland, California.

One of the candidates running- they’re both, actually, Democrats in this final election. One of them is an Obama acolyte whose name is Buffy Wicks. The other candidate in the general election is Richmond City Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles. Jovanka Beckles and the other candidate are similar on some issues, but really different. Jovanka’s running on single-payer, full daycare, free college, as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which sets her apart. In our continued exploration of America’s future with progressive candidates from around this country, we talked today with Richmond Councilperson Jovanka Beckles, who’s running for the Assembly seat in the 15th District. And Jovanka, welcome back, good to have you with us here on The Real News.

JOVANKA BECKLES: Thank you so very much. Great to be here.

MARC STEINER: Good to have you with us. So what I want to do, we’re going to start by playing this short clip of your campaign ads to give people a flavor, and then jump into our conversation.JOVANKA BECKLES: All right. Very well.

VIDEO: My name is Jovanka Beckles. I’m a mental health professional, a union member, and an immigrant. For the past eight years on the Richmond City Council, I’ve been part of a movement and fight corporate [money]. We rejected corporate campaign donations and achieved victories for working people. We banned the box, won rent control, and a $15 minimum wage. When working people come together, we can take back control of our lives, and a greater share of the wealth that we ourselves create.

Because together we can build a California that puts people over profit.

MARC STEINER: So for our viewers across the country and the globe- let me explain very quickly and see if I have this right, Jovanka- in California when you run for political office, the top two vote getters, to make 50 percent, run against each other. Many places have two Democrats running against one another for the general election, which is what’s happening in your district this moment. Is that correct?JOVANKA BECKLES: That is absolutely correct. In fact, in the primary there was one Republican in a race full of 12 people.

MARC STEINER: It says something about your district.

JOVANKA BECKLES: It says a lot about our district. Exactly. It’s the most progressive district, the most diverse district in the state.MARC STEINER: So I really want to explore, because I think this, as I said at the top of the program here, this is kind of an example of this new classic battle across the country in the Democratic Party. But talk a bit about that as you see it. Because Buffy Wicks is an Obama acolyte, as I said. She worked for his administration. She helped his campaign in California when he fought against Bernie Sanders’ campaign in California. But she also is very liberal and progressive on a number of issues, and that’s what mean by this new battle. Define what you see as the difference between that point of view and point of view that you’re running on.

JOVANKA BECKLES: Yeah, it’s exactly right. And I you know, I know folks have have expressed that oh, you know, we’re we’re both very liberal, very progressive. But I haven’t really seen that in terms of the policies that we both find to be the most important. So in other words, we differ in so many different ways. We both agree, of course, yes, something needs to happen with regard to wealth inequality. We both agree that there’s an affordable housing shortage, absolutely. But we differ in the way that we- in the solutions that we have.

We differ in the solutions to address the housing crisis. I believe that we need to build hundreds of thousands of new affordable housing, public housing. She believes that we will get ourselves out of this mess by building market rate housing, and I don’t. I disagree. And so that’s why we differ when it comes to just- one of the other solutions being the support for Prop 10, which is the repeal of Costa-Hawkins at the state level. I support it. The opposition does not. That’s one way we differ.

We also differ in other ways. I believe that when you have an attack on the public school system the way that we’re seeing it, unprecedented numbers of resources being drained from our public institutions, our public schools, we need to have a moratorium on charter schools. And she does not agree that that’s the way that we address resources being drained from our public schools.

I also believe that we need to get dark money out of our elections, out of our politics, and our government. The majority of money comes from, that were donated to me, comes from right within the district. The majority of money that she’s received comes- a lot of it is coming from Washington D.C. Unfortunately, a lot of the billionaires that are donating to her campaign are the same billionaires who not only donate to Republicans, but are invested in privatizing our schools, are invested in private prisons, and are committed to destroying unions, and destroying- and not supporting the implementation of a single-payer healthcare for all system.

MARC STEINER: So if I’m clear, you are a union member. You’re in the Teamsters, correct?

JOVANKA BECKLES: Correct. Local 856. Absolutely.

MARC STEINER: But you’re a mental health worker by trade?

JOVANKA BECKLES: There we go. Teamsters Local 856. And yes, I’m a mental health professional by training. I’ve been in the mental health field for 30 years right here in the Bay Area. That’s the other way that we differ. I’ve lived consistently in the Bay Area for 30 years, and have worked here consistently for 30 years. I moved to the Bay Area in 1989, and I have never moved away, but I’ve been devoted to creating the change that I like to see in my community for the last 30 years here.MARC STEINER: So let’s take a couple of these things that you’re talking about. I want to take a broader issue here first, before I talk about some of the specifics you’re kind of talking about in your district. What does it mean for you as a union member to be a socialist, a declared democratic socialist, running for a State Assembly seat? I mean, clearly the socialists won’t have a majority in the Assembly. They most likely will not for the foreseeable future. But what does that mean for you, to be a socialist running?

JOVANKA BECKLES: It means that I believe that there is more than enough to share. I believe that in the fifth-largest economy in the world, within the largest economy in the world, there is enough resources for us to share. We as working people, we created this wealth that we are seeing, and yet we’re not benefiting from any from it. We’re not being, it’s not being shared with us. And so we as working-class people absolutely have to have a seat at the table. We have to have a seat in positions of power to be able to change this direction that we’re seeing, where we’re seeing the gap between those who have and those who do not have widen every day, by the day.

And so it’s so important that as working people we know, we see, we experience firsthand the challenge that it is to make ends meet. The challenge that it is to pay for for healthcare, to pay for food, to pay for rent, or a mortgage, and still be able to have some, you know, some spending money, right? Some disposable income. And so when we have more working people, I believe, in office, we’ll start to see the wealth shared a little bit better and more equitably.

So one of the things we see in this race also, I believe George Miller the congressman came out in favor of Ms. Wicks, and Barbara Lee came out to support you. Am I right about that?

JOVANKA BECKLES: Yes, you are. So excited. The congresswoman is someone that I’ve admired for years, particularly when she was the lone ‘no’ vote to start us in this endless war that we are still experiencing today. So she’s always been someone that I’ve admired because of her courage and her willingness to stand up for the people and be a voice for the people. So that’s really exciting. This happened yesterday. The endorsements from other unions are also coming in. So we’re really seeing this campaign gain so much momentum on a daily basis.

MARC STEINER: So let me talk about the issues here. And when you, when you talk about the housing issues, and talking about Prop 10 and what that means, and what the battle is over Prop 10- and I believe that is your opponent has not said she’s for or against it, she said let the voters decide, but you very clearly have come out on this on this value proposition. Talk a bit about that.

JOVANKA BECKLES: Right. What Prop 10 does is right now, cities like Richmond- I’m really proud to have been in this movement to bring the first rent control policy to a city, the first one in 30 years. So Richmond, we passed a rent control on the ballot. However, our hands are tied. And Berkeley has rent control, and Oakland does, too.

MARC STEINER: And hands are tied why? Why are your hands tied?

JOVANKA BECKLES: Hands are tied because of Costa-Hawkins. That’s the state law that exempts properties built after 1995 from rent control policies. And what Prop 10 does by reforming Costa-Hawkins, by repealing it, rather- my, the opposition wants to reform it. But we, the majority of people understand that we have to repeal that that law so that states, so that cities, can have more power, more control in creating the kinds of policies that best fit their residents.

And so right now we’re seeing, for example, in Oakland lots of new development; for-profit luxury units being built right now. And those units are not going to be under rent control, under the rent control policies, because they’re being built, you know, after 1995. So by reforming that it gives cities more options for those, for better policies that best fit their residents. And so my opponent believes that we don’t need to appeal that, we need to reform it. And it really is, you know, her idea of housing development, her plan, really is- there’s no other way to say it, but it really is a public giveaway of land for the for-profit developers. And I believe that we really should be using our public land and money to build the permanent, affordable, not-for-profit housing that that we need.

MARC STEINER: So let’s talk about money for a moment. One of the things, the conversations I’ve had with people in this state, where we broadcast from in Maryland, and across the country, about certain policies is about money. We live in a capitalist world, which is how our economy is managed and run. When people talk about having a single-payer system in the state of California, when you talk about daycare for working families that is paid for in California, when you talk about free college tuition, which used to be in California, as it was in New York once, and no longer is. First question people will ask, will ask Jovanka Beckles: how do you pay for that? In this system, how do we pay for those things for our people?JOVANKA BECKLES: Absolutely. So we’re really seeing now in 2018, we’re seeing how capitalism really is not working for the majority of us. It’s only working for a very, very small percentage of people. So you pay for these things by taxing the wealthy, by taxing the rich, by insisting that they pay their fair share of taxes just like the rest of us. And you do that by reforming Prop 13. And in California, Prop 13 really is a way for big corporations to have a loophole, and not pay their fair share of taxes. So when we reform that that proposition- and it will be on the ballot- we will then be able to have the resources that we need. Since Prop 13 was initiated in, I think it was 1979, we have lost about $367 billion in revenue. Now imagine what we could have been doing with all that money lost. And so when we reform prop Prop 13, we’ll then have the billions of dollars that we need.

But it isn’t just a matter of of taxing the rich through proper reform of Prop 13, it’s also taxing speculators. It’s also taxing vacant properties that they buy and they keep open, they keep empty. And so when we tax these kinds of speculators and vacant properties, we can build the, as I talk about in my platfor, the hundreds of thousands of of housing for all, through taxing the rich. We can also- that will bring millions and billions of dollars to the state for us to build the affordable housing that we need, and that people have a right to. People have a right to shelter. We’re seeing so many people who are working 40 hours a week living out of their cars, and something is terribly wrong when hardworking people can’t afford to pay rent in the state of California in the Bay Area.MARC STEINER: So Jovanka, one of the things I think that a lot of us really wonder about, and many of our viewers who wonder about people around this country are wrestling with, is for people running as democratic socialists in this country, we live in a land right now that is hugely divided in terms of political viewpoints. And It’s gotten to a point where we are as divided now as it was when I was younger civil rights worker down South. It’s that intense. I can feel the same intensity at the moment. I’m just curious, from your perspective, what the political battle means that we’re facing now when we’re so divided as a people. And so much is built around race, it’s also built around, kind of, political viewpoints and more. And what that means, you think, for our future, your future as Californians and our future as Americans, and where that takes us.

JOVANKA BECKLES: Yes. You know, we’re all in the same boat. The 99 percent, we’re all in the same boat. Because what we’re seeing now is a movement. Is a movement that really is stating a loud message. We cannot continue in this direction. The for-profit system that puts profit above our health, that puts profit above our education, that puts profit above our planet, is not working. It’s not a sustainable model. We need- people are fighting. We’re coming together, we’re realizing that we have to put aside our differences of race and age and even political affiliation, and come together as one united people to fight against the injustice that we’re seeing, to fight against the greed.

What we’re seeing right now, as people are understanding that we have to elect more candidates, more public officials who are going to always put the needs of the planet and working people and our children and our health above the profit of of our billionaire class and corporations. What we’re seeing is a movement where people are understanding that we are getting poor while they’re getting richer, and it’s not a model that’s sustainable. Because when we don’t have the kinds of regulation that we need, our planet is literally burning. Our planet- we’re seeing the weather is wreaking havoc right now in Florida and throughout the world. And that’s a scientific truth that if we continue to go in this direction we’re not going to have a planet to live on.

And so no amount of profit- we have two corporations right now, I believe it’s Amazon and Apple, that have now reached the trillion dollar profit line. That is not a model that is sustainable, because we the workers created that wealth, and we are realizing that we deserve, we’re entitled to share that wealth that we ourselves have created. And so we have to build a world, a California, a United States that puts the needs of the people above the profit of corporations. And that’s the, that’s the model that we’re seeing; a movement that’s gaining momentum more and more every day. And so I’m really excited about what we’re seeing, that people are now awake, and are passionate and driven to change the system, this very corrupt, unjust system that we are all experiencing.

MARC STEINER: So very quickly here as we conclude, Jovanka- I mean, I understand also that the campaign, which was really kind of aboveboard for a long time, and the two of you, with different positions, were acting fairly honorably, at least in the debates I’ve seen, the conversations I’ve seen taking place. But things have gotten ugly. I understand that some red-baiting has taken place and people are literally attacking your signs, and attacking you as a person. Not physically, but your character.JOVANKA BECKLES:Yes, attacking my character. Red-baiting a black woman living in the United States of America. Our signs are being defaced. They’re being tagged with things. One sign I saw someone had “Communist voters unite.” Don’t even understand. That’s obviously people who don’t understand the difference between communism and socialism. Socialism just says that there is enough wealth to share. That’s all. That’s what that means. And it’s unfortunate that any working-class person would not subscribe to a model that benefits all of us.

They’re they’re attacking my character. There’s whisper campaigns. I had a gentleman, a black gentleman the other day approached me saying he heard that I hate black man. And I know that it’s a whisper campaign based on the fact that I’m an out lesbian on the Richmond City Council. But to take it to that level, that I hate black men, is really disheartening. But it’s not the first time that this has happened. In 2008 when I ran the first time, that was the whisper campaign; Jovanka doesn’t think she’s black, Jovanka doesn’t like black people because, you know, she’s a Latina. And then there, then the other whisper campaign was, you know, Jovanka is a Green Party member. And I’ve been a Democrat for 37 years at this point. But it’s just the kind of things that people use to divide us. Our office in Richmond has been vandalized twice.

And so we’re seeing that our message that resonates with the majority of people to actually build a California that works for all of us, it resonates with the people to have a California that’s just and equitable. Resonates with the majority. But we’re seeing that there are those that are feeling threatened. And unfortunately, you know, the very people that I’m sure are doing these things are working-class people not understanding that everything that I do, everything that this movement is about, is for them. And so that’s really unfortunate. But we move on, we persevere, we stand up, we fight back, and we’re going to win this election in November.

MARC STEINER: We’ve been talking to Richmond City Councilperson Jovanka Beckles, who is running for the 15th Assembly District in California. And Jovanka, thank you so much for joining us here on The Real News. It’s been a pleasure to talk with you.

JOVANKA BECKLES: Thank you. Pleasure is all mine. Thank you so much.

MARC STEINER: Take care. And I’m Marc Steiner for The Real News Network. Good to have you with us. Take care.

Posted by: AGelbert

Chris Hedges spoke in Eugene, Oct. 3, 2018 to the Community Rights Lane County. He is on the west coast for his latest book, "America: The Farewell Tour"

From the book's website, "Chris Hedges’s profound and provocative examination of America in crisis is “an exceedingly…provocative book, certain to arouse controversy, but offering a point of view that needs to be heard” (Booklist), about how bitter hopelessness and malaise have resulted in a culture of sadism and hate.

America, says Pulitzer Prize­–winning reporter Chris Hedges, is convulsed by an array of pathologies that have arisen out of profound hopelessness, a bitter despair, and a civil society that has ceased to function. The opioid crisis; the retreat into gambling to cope with economic distress; the pornification of culture; the rise of magical thinking; the celebration of sadism, hate, and plagues of suicides are the physical manifestations of a society that is being ravaged by corporate pillage and a failed democracy. As our society unravels, we also face global upheaval caused by catastrophic climate change. All these ills presage a frightening reconfiguration of the nation and the planet.

Donald Trump rode this disenchantment to power. In his “forceful and direct” (Publishers Weekly) America: The Farewell Tour, Hedges argues that neither political party, now captured by corporate power, addresses the systemic problem. Until our corporate coup d’état is reversed these diseases will grow and ravage the country. “With a trademark blend of…sharply observed detail, Hedges writes a requiem for the American dream” (Kirkus Reviews) and seeks to jolt us out of our complacency while there is still time."

Scientists and members of the public criticize proposed changes to New Mexico’s science teaching standards at an October 2017 hearing. Photo: AP

Fossil fuel interest groups will continue debating the reality of human-caused climate change until the seas swallow us all, but among scientists the matter is settled. Last week, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) put out a position statement affirming as much and telling the naysayers to **** off.

Published September 13, the new position statement opens by unequivocally acknowledging the “overwhelming scientific consensus” that Earth’s climate is changing due to human activity, while at the same time noting that widespread confusion exists among the American public. It recommends that science teachers and policy makers work to ensure basic science climate concepts are included in K-12 educational curricula—without the ginned up “controversy” pushed by climate denial groups.

“The science of climate change is firmly rooted in decades of peer-reviewed scientific literature,” the position statement reads. “Given the solid scientific foundation on which climate change science rests, any controversies regarding climate change and human-caused contributions to climate change that are based on social, economic, or political arguments—rather than scientific arguments—should not be part of a science curriculum.”

The NSTA—which calls itself “the largest organization of science teachers worldwide” with nearly 60,000 members—has issued position statements on topics ranging from laboratory safety to the metric system. Occasionally, the private professional association also weighs in on a scientific topic that’s become polarizing because of political ideologies or religion, like evolution.

David Evans, executive director of the NSTA, told Earther that the decision to develop a position statement on climate change came about a year ago, as high-profile battles over teaching the subject played out in state legislatures and school boards and garnered national media attention.

Last fall, controversy erupted in New Mexico over an attempt to replace climate change with “temperature fluctuation” in new science teaching standards. In the winter, a similar brouhaha occurred in Idaho, after state legislatures voted to remove most mentions of climate change from proposed K-12 science standards. Teachers have also faced pressure from outside interest groups, most notably fossil fuel propaganda machine The Heartland Institute, which recently mailed a misinformation-ridden report titled “Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming” to hundreds of thousands of teachers nationwide.

Both the New Mexico and Idaho efforts to water down climate science were eventually defeated, but many teachers, especially in more conservative locales, are still reticent to bring the politically-charged subject into the classroom. Evans hopes the new statement gives those teachers a firmer foundation to stand on and helps them acquire additional resources. The position statement recommends school administrators provide science teachers with “professional learning opportunities” that address climate science.

“Most teachers in the classroom now never really had any formal classes in climate science—it just wasn’t taught 20 years ago,” Evans said. “Having a position statement helps teachers get that kind of support.”

Evans also hopes the statement gives science teachers some guidance on what they should leave out.

“Often times, there’s a confounding of climate science on the one hand, and ‘what should we do about this thing happening to the environment’ [on] the other hand,” he said. “And the two are really distinct.”

In his view, the basic science should be taught in chemistry, physics or Earth science, while discussion of specific policy actions or mitigation measures belongs in a social studies class.

“If I had my fantasy wish... that [social studies] class would have students well informed about the science of climate change,” Evans continued. “And that would be a place where they could debate the merits of how much fossil fuel we use and what we use it for. What we want are citizens—students—who are informed about the science and can use that information.”

Among American adults, there aren’t nearly as many of those informed citizens as one would hope. A Gallup poll released earlier this year found that only 35 percent of self-identified Republicans and 62 percent of independents believe global warming is caused by human activities.

“Teachers are in a really tough position teaching this topic in a lot of communities. They want and they deserve a lot of support for it.”

Those statistics can be turned around over time, but teaching climate science accurately is critical. A survey released by the nonprofit National Center for Science Education (NCSE) in 2016 found that while roughly 75 percent of public school science teachers devote some classroom time to the subjec, over a quarter “give equal time” to perspectives that doubt the scientific consensus.

The same survey found that most teachers are unaware of the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change’s causes, and that only about two-thirds see human activity as the primary driver.

“You’ve got a situation where these campaigns to cast doubt on the science have had a lot of success,” NCSE executive director Ann Reid told Earther. “Even teachers who believe the science aren’t always sure about the certainty.”

In Reid’s view, the new position statement hits the mark by raising a lot of these issues and suggesting school districts provide teachers more support to strengthen their knowledge.

“Teachers are in a really tough position teaching this topic in a lot of communities,” she said. “They want and they deserve a lot of support for it.”

Posted by: AGelbert

Brazil’s Historic Presidential Election: Left and Right Have Equal Chance of Winning

September 21, 2018

Now that frontrunner Lula da Silva of the Workers Party has been eliminated from the presidential race, his running mate, Fernando Haddad and far-right Jair Bolsonaro look likely to make the run-off after the first round vote on October 7th

Posted by: AGelbert

At a public event in Washington, DC, CodePink’s Medea Benjamin confronted Brian Hook , the head of Trump’s Iran Action ☠️ Group, over the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and re-imposing crippling ☠️ sanctions on the Iranian people. Benjamin joins us to discuss her action, which went viral online

The U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal has been one of the most consequential decisions of the Trump presidency that has faced relatively little public protest. Well, this week was different, when the administration was confronted directly. Brian Hook, the head of Trump’s so-called Iran Action Group, spoke Wednesday at the Hudson Institute, a right-wing think tank in Washington. As Hook finished his remarks, he was joined on stage by Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the peace group Code Pink.

BRIAN HOOK: It is time for all nations to join us in holding Iran to a new level of accountability for its destructive behavior; especially its lawless pursuit of ballistic missiles. Thank you.

MEDEA BENJAMIN: That is the most ridiculous thing I have seen. The world community wants to keep the Iran nuclear deal. Our allies. The Germans, the French, the British, they want to keep in this deal. The world community wants to keep the deal. Let’s talk about normal countries. Let’s talk about Saudi Arabia. Is that who our allies are? They are the biggest- to the world community. You’re hurting me. You’re actually hurting me. I want to ask, do you think these sanctions are hurting the regime, or are they hurting the Iranian people? They’re hurting the Iranian people. You’re making the case for war with Iran. How did the war with Iraq turn out? You’re doing exactly the same thing we did in the case of Iraq. We don’t want another war in the Middle East. How did Iraq turn out? How did Libya turn out? We have the people of Syria suffering. And how dare you bring up the issue of Yemen? It’s the Saudi bombing that is killing most people in Yemen. So let’s get real. No more war. Peace with Iran.

AARON MATE: Joining me now is the star of this viral video. Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the peace group Code Pink. Welcome, Medea. Walk us through what you did here, and the message that you tried to bring.

MEDEA BENJAMIN: Well, thanks for having me on, Aaron. You know, it’s very hard to sit through the kind of drivel of Brian Hook talking about missile, missile, missile, Iran threat, danger, not a normal country. And my head was spinning, and I felt like I had to get up and respond to it. And I knew that in the Q&A it was going to be curated. They had passed around cards. They weren’t going to answer the questions that I had asked. And so I felt I better just get up and say my piece.

And so as you can see, I jumped on stage. And I thought it was so important to counter the path that the Trump administration and Brian Hook and Mike Pompeo are taking us down, because it is so dangerous. And I’m old, Aaron. I’ve been through the antiwar movement around Vietnam, Central America, post-9/11. And I was just sitting there feeling this tremendous deja vu about Iraq; that here was yet another administration doing lies, distortions, inventions, whatever it wanted to paint Iran as a demon that had to be addressed militarily. And you know, we’ve got to do something to counter that. We can’t allow them to take us into another war in the Middle East or anywhere.

AARON MATE: You got a lot in in just a few minutes of remarks as they were dragging you away. One of the things you said was talking about the impact of sanctions, how the sanctions do not hurt the government of Iran so much as they hurt the people of Iran. And this is a critical point, as especially now already sanctions are back in place with Trump withdrawing from the nuclear deal. But even harsher sanctions from the U.S. are going to be reimposed in November. So can you talk about what you were speaking of in terms of the impact of the U.S. sanctions on Iran?

MEDEA BENJAMIN: Yes. I’m in communication with a lot of people in Iran, and hear story after story about how devastating the sanctions already are. And as you said, in early November is the next round of sanctions to try to cut off oil exports from Iran, which is the main source of income, and will be absolutely devastating. And so I thought it was important to bring out the issue that these are ordinary Iranian people who were being hurt by the sanctions.

And the outpouring from Iran that I received after this intervention has been astounding. Yes, there are some people who are extremely nasty and actually doing death threats that I want to report to the FBI, but the majority of them have been really positive and saying how they are their lives are so difficult right now; they can’t get married because they don’t have money. They don’t want to have children because they don’t have the money to support them. They lost their jobs because the job situation is very difficult. A doctor who wrote to me and said he can’t treat his people, give them the kind of health care they deserve because of shortages.

So this is strangling not the higher-ups, not the clerics, not the government people. This is the strangulating the ordinary Iranian people. And it’s designed precisely to do that so they’ll be so angry that they’ll rise up against their government. But I think what is happening is that many people in Iran are becoming united against the outside because of this, instead of focusing on the changes they want to make in their own government. Now they feel they have to hunker down and save themselves against a potential war.

AARON MATE: And you mention that Brian Hook, the head of this new so-called Iran Action Group, was speaking about missiles in Iran. This issue of ballistic missiles. There have been rumblings in the Trump administration they want to try to push through some sort of new agreement with Iran that would limit its ballistic missiles. Can you talk about what is going on there, and what you think the Iranian government’s reaction to that will be, especially in light of the Trump ministration walking away from the Iran nuclear deal?

MEDEA BENJAMIN: We already know the reaction of the Iranian government, which is to say it’s ridiculous to pull out of a deal that was not an agreement between two countries, as Brian Hook said. It was an international agreement approved by the Security Council of the United Nations, by the European Union. If the U.S. pulls out of that it’s just crazy to think that the Iranians would sit down and negotiate another deal with the Trump administration. It makes absolutely no sense.

The rest of the world community, minus a couple of countries like Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates, want the deal to be saved. Trying to figure out how to salvage that deal. And we will see a lot of contentious things at the United Nations next week when the issue of Iran comes up, and we find that our allies in Europe are on a very different page than the Trump administration. So I think it is not rational to talk about trying to rein in Iran’s missile system when you have just ripped up a nuclear deal. And also to recognize the most sophisticated military technology in the Middle East is not in the government of Iran, it’s in the hands of Israel and Saudi Arabia, thanks to the United States.

AARON MATE: Medea, finally, I want to ask you just a personal question. You’ve become notorious for your willingness to confront U.S. officials and former U.S. officials at public events like this one. I remember there’s a famous incident where you were there when Donald Rumsfeld was entering a gathering, and you announced to the crowd, here comes the war criminal. And you stood beside him, denouncing him as a war criminal and speaking a bit about his record. I’m wondering, when you put yourself in this situation, are you ever nervous? Is it scary to go up against people, especially powerful people like your targets?

MEDEA BENJAMIN: It’s extremely scary. I don’t do this without sweating it out, and really a lot of shaking and questioning whether I should do it or should I do it. But in the end I think it’s important to do, and I think more people should do it. I wish there were people everywhere these criminals go to be popping up and denouncing them, because we make their lives way too easy when they are destroying the lives of people around the world.